Afterglow
by radishcow432
Summary: 6 years after Breaking Dawn, Bella, Edward, Renesmee, Jacob, and all the Cullens are living in peace and happiness. But they will be put to the test once again when the Tanya and Kate seek to avenge their dead sister, resulting in a confrontation with the Volturi that can only end in war.
1. Heaven

Heaven

Edward had always believed that there was no heaven for our kind, for vampires. That from the moment we were bitten, we were soulless. I don't believe that. And Edward doesn't either now. I've been much of a religious person, but I was raised on the knowledge that heaven is the beautiful place that good people are rewarded with. The vampires that I love deserve that more than any humans I've never known. When I look up at Edward, at my family, I see faces like angels. These people are more saint-like than anyone. Just because we might have a long wait, or never go at all, doesn't mean we are demons.

The prospect of never experiencing heaven wasn't at all saddening to me. Heaven was a place incomparable to any place on Earth. It was an unbelievable and unreal perfection. But I couldn't imagine a place more perfect than where I was now. With Edward, my unbelievably perfect husband, my flawlessly angelic daughter Renesmee, my best friend Jacob, my wonderful stepsister Alice, her soft spoken husband Jasper, my stunning stepsister Rosalie, and her obnoxiously loveable husband Emmet, surrounded by these people, I cannot imagine a more perfect place. I like to think of heaven as a word: just a word that means your place in the world where you are unfathomably happy and content. My heaven is here, anywhere I am, as long as I'm surrounded by _my _angels, in my own personal heaven.


	2. School

School

My copper curls smacked my face as the wind howled through the trees. My thin dress did nothing to keep the cold from over whelming me. I wanted to stop, to scrunch up my body as small as possible and sit on the ground, waiting for the wind to stop. But there was no time to waste. I had a mission, although I could not remember what it was. I would get fragments here and there, faces, their smiles, their cries. Grey walls, candlelight, an old withered book. But every time my memory served me, I could not manage to cling onto the memory. I could not be distracted. I forced myself to let the image of a letter with a red seal slip away, as I fought the weather. There was still one memory I was holding onto. This was a mission that I could not fail. So before everything was gone I had to get to that damn-

""Ness! Come on!" Dad yelled from downstairs. I groaned. School. Not that I didn't enjoy it sometimes, but it was such a hassle waking up early every day and spending all of it trapped inside a dirty old building. I looked at the clock by my bed. I had ten minutes to fix myself. A moment of déjà vu crossed my mind. I remember the exact same thing except dad had been by my bed and when I turned to look at the clock it informed me I had an hour to get ready. "Crap." I hissed. I leaped out of the covers and bolted to the huge bathroom. My makeup job was sloppy and I had no choice but to twist my hair up into a ponytail. I through on some skinny jeans and a crop top, some black boots, and a splash of jewelry. I twirled in the mirror. I looked good. Alice was sure to grant it satisfactory in our daily hair, makeup, and clothes check. It was obviously thrown together, the shoes didn't really match and neither did the jewelry, but I still thought Alice would let it pass. I looked pretty cute.

"Come on, Nessie, please! I don't want to take you in late again. That was so humiliating." Dad shuddered. I rolled my eyes. "Dad, people are late all the time. It's not a big deal. In fact, if you're really trying to blend, you should probably set up some dates for me to miss school so it looks normal." I hoped he thought what I was saying was every bit as logical as I did. He opened his mouth to respond, but mom hushed him before he could say 'absolutely not'. It was if mom was the mind reader, not him. I guess that's what happens when you love someone. You learn them so well it's like a shared mind. "Edward, she's right. I'm sorry, but you're being ridiculous with this perfect attendance thing. I'm sorry that you married a human, but our daughter has the right to be late sometimes…maybe even miss a few days." She said nonchalantly. He didn't argue but only shook his head. "The only reason we're running late is because Nessie decided to take a nap after I woke her up." He said, playfully glaring at me. "Well that explains it!" A high pitched cry tore from my lovely aunt's lips. She shook her head in fake disparagement. "I was rushed." I smiled at her. She tucked in some lose hair behind my ear. "Let's go!" Edward said for the last time, grabbing my wrist as softly as he could manage while still yanking me out of the chair I was sitting on. He dragged me into the car and I fidgeted with my cellphone as he got in. I shut my eyes for a tired blink. We were at my school before they opened.

There was really not much to say about school. I have some friends, they like me, but I'm not that close to anyone there. There's Jennifer, one of my very first friends there. She's very loud and outgoing and sometimes annoying. Mark has had a crush on my since I started, but he's dorky and Jennifer and Mark kind of like each other. Amanda is a soft spoken pleasant girl whose company I enjoy more than any of them. Evan liked me for a while, but not much anymore. He's kind of annoying. Brett is Amanda's boyfriend. He's nice but we aren't close. I'm pretty popular. Some people don't like me. This girl named Layla and her friends hate me for some stupid unknown reason. I really couldn't care less about my social life. I'm usually pretty introverted, but for some reason everyone seems to be drawn to me. I feel like I'm always getting bugged. I probably sound like a spoiled brat, and maybe I am. I should be grateful for nice friends, but something about them is just so…_human_. They're all so weak and clueless. They're all so caught up in school and popularity and dating and all that stupidity, so oblivious to the bigger picture, so oblivious to the supernatural world they've been sheltered from, so oblivious to the fact that no matter what happens to them, nobody is going to give a shit because they're just going to get old and _die_. Every time some guy tries to impress a girl or showoff to his friends by dunking a basket or whatever, I just want to yell, "Hey you? That was impressive, but guess what, I have an uncle that could literally shove that ball up your ass and break you like a twig." But of course I would never. To the world, we are just a bunch of attractive people who could use a sun bath.

I got invited to Jennifer's birthday today, and of course I just 'have to go'. God. It's not that I don't like Jennifer. She's fun and the last person I would expect to have a lame party. It's just that part of me worries that I might become one of them if I spend too much time with them. I am half vampire and half human. My entire world revolves around my beautiful family of vampires (and werewolves, because Jacob is close enough to family to be called family), but I still have that human blood coursing through my veins. 50% of me is the same weak, boy crazy, dramatic, little, insignificant, _human_ as Jennifer. The thought of losing touch with my world (impossible as it may seem, I still have my fears) is horrifying. I wish I could be homeschooled, except I don't really. I used to be homeschooled in middle school after an incident with a boy that kept harassing me occurred, and being homeschooled was kind of hellish. There was a lot of nagging and I feel like they kept forgetting that my brain wasn't as fast as theirs. And I do enjoy some parts of school. I connect well with my teachers and getting good grades always makes me feel good. I am also ashamed to say I'm not completely bothered by getting flirted with. It happens too much for it to go unnoticed by my family. Dad hates it. Mom is always very interested in it. Alice loves it, and every time she hears about a guy flirting with me she does my hair and makeup the next day. Rose thinks it sweet. Emmet gats very amused at dad's reaction and Jasper doesn't seem to care, if not slightly amused. The only one who I love to talk about it with is Jake. He's interested in knowing, but it's not like mom. She's always butting in and interrogating me about whoever it was, and she pushes it on and on, whereas with Jake, it's more like he's interested for my sake instead of his own curiosity. He's a very good listener. I can't remember anything I've ever hid from him or didn't vent about to him, except for puberty. I whined about to puberty to my aunts.


End file.
